'Japanese OJ' Hangs Self in LA Jail Before Murder Trail

A Japanese businessman hanged himself last night in a Los Angeles jail, just hours after arriving in the US to face charges for allegedly planning his wife’s death 27 years ago. Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, was alone in his cell when he "used a piece of his shirt as a makeshift ligature around his neck,” the LAPD reported. Miura's case has filled headlines in Japan for years and earned him the nickname "the Japanese O.J. Simpson."

“None of this makes any sense,” said Kazuyoshi Miura’s attorney, Mark Geragos. “There was no indication that he was despondent or depressed.” A fuming Geragos says he hasn’t “gotten a straight or cogent explanation about what happened” and will demand an independent investigation. Authorities suspected Miura conspired to kill his wife in 1981 to collect life insurance.
(More Japan stories.)